Is Your Pet Left Handed Or Right Handed? Here’s How To Find Out
I guess instead of "handed" I should have used the word "pawed". Because basically what you're going to try to do is find out what is your pet's dominant paw. I know it's stupid but I know you're going to do this anyway because you have free time on your dominant and non dominant hands.
There are three tests you can ask your pet to perform. These tests were designed by Dr. Stefanie Schwartz who is naturally from California. You wouldn't think somebody in Idaho would give a rats rear end what paw their dog scratches his butt with do you?
Here are the three simple tests. Your job as the scientist is to simply observe how your pet handles each test. It's kind of like watching your Grandma attempt to use e-mail.
1- Fill a toy with treats and place the treat filled toy where your pet can see it. Make a note of which paw your pet first touches the treat filled toy.
2-Put something sticky on your pet's nose. What paw do they use to try and get the sticky thing off? Make a note of that too.
3-Put a treat under a couch or table and see what paw your pet reaches with to grab the treat. Make a note of that result as well.
Now comes the part where you use your dominant hand to make an obscene gesture at me. Repeat these experiments 100 times. If you really want to get a solid answer you'll need to repeat the experiments a lot.
Some pets, usually cats, will use both paws to get to treats. However, if you notice that one paw appears to be very dominant in the early stages of testing then you can rest assured you've discovered your pet's dominant hand or should I say paw.
What does this all mean? Not a darn thing. There is no evidence that sheds any particular light on the dominant paw and the behavioral traits of pets. I did mention these experiments were for people who had time on their hands.